Russia, Ukraine Trade Accusations of Infrastructure Attacks After Putin-Trump Call 

A handout photo made available by the Russian Defense Ministry's press service shows abandoned Ukrainian ammunition at a position in the Kursk region, Russia, 14 March 2025. (EPA/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Handout) 
A handout photo made available by the Russian Defense Ministry's press service shows abandoned Ukrainian ammunition at a position in the Kursk region, Russia, 14 March 2025. (EPA/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Handout) 
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Russia, Ukraine Trade Accusations of Infrastructure Attacks After Putin-Trump Call 

A handout photo made available by the Russian Defense Ministry's press service shows abandoned Ukrainian ammunition at a position in the Kursk region, Russia, 14 March 2025. (EPA/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Handout) 
A handout photo made available by the Russian Defense Ministry's press service shows abandoned Ukrainian ammunition at a position in the Kursk region, Russia, 14 March 2025. (EPA/ Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Handout) 

Russia and Ukraine accused each other on Wednesday of launching air attacks that sparked fires and damaged infrastructure just hours after their leaders agreed to a limited ceasefire to halt attacks on energy infrastructure.

Putin agreed to temporarily stop attacking Ukrainian energy facilities but declined to endorse a full 30-day ceasefire sought by US President Donald Trump in a telephone call with the Russian leader on Tuesday.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had agreed to the US proposed 30-day ceasefire before the Putin-Trump call and later supported the more limited ceasefire on energy targets.

But after Russia launched its air attacks early on Wednesday, Zelenskiy urged the world to block any attempts by Moscow to drag out the war.

"Russia is attacking civilian infrastructure and people - right now," Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy's chief of staff, said overnight on Telegram.

Regional authorities in Sumy in northeast Ukraine said that Russia's drone attacks damaged two hospitals there, causing no injuries but forcing the evacuation of patients and hospital staff.

A 60-year-old man was injured and several houses damaged in Russian drone attack on the Kyiv region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital, Mykola Kalashnyk, governor of the region, said early on Wednesday.

Zelenskiy said that Russia launched more than 40 drones against Ukraine in the hours following the call between Trump and Putin.

Russia's defense ministry said that its units destroyed 57 Ukrainian drones overnight, 35 of them over the border Kursk region. The ministry reports only how many drones were destroyed not how many were launched by Ukraine.

Authorities in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said early on Wednesday that a Ukrainian drone attack sparked a small fire at an oil depot located near the village of Kavkazskaya.

No one was injured in the fire, which spread across 20 square meters (215 square feet), but 30 employees were evacuated, the administration of the southern Russian region said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

"The work at the facility has been suspended," the administration said.

The Russian SHOT news Telegram posted a video of blazes at night at what seemed like an industrial area.

SHOT said the Kavkazskaya oil transshipment point is an important facility designed to transport Russian oil for exports railway and into the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline system.

Reuters could not independently verify the SHOT report.

Russia's aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said that for a couple of hours overnight flights were suspended from airports in Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Nizhnekamsk, Russia, all hundreds of kilometers east of Moscow, to "ensure air safety".

The agency did not say what was the reason for the suspension, but it usually suspends flights when there are reports of drone attacks.



France Accuses Iran of ‘Repression’ in Sentence for Nobel Laureate

People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)
People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)
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France Accuses Iran of ‘Repression’ in Sentence for Nobel Laureate

People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)
People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)

France accused Iran on Monday of "repression and intimidation" after a court handed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi a new six-year prison sentence on charges of harming national security.

Mohammadi, sentenced Saturday, was also handed a one-and-a-half-year prison sentence for "propaganda" against Iran's system, according to her foundation.

"With this sentence, the Iranian regime has, once again, chosen repression and intimidation," the French foreign ministry said in a statement, describing the 53-year-old as a "tireless defender" of human rights.

Paris is calling for the release of the activist, who was arrested before protests erupted nationwide in December after speaking out against the government at a funeral ceremony.

The movement peaked in January as authorities launched a crackdown that activists say has left thousands dead.

Over the past quarter-century, Mohammadi has been repeatedly tried and jailed for her vocal campaigning against Iran's use of capital punishment and the mandatory dress code for women.

Mohammadi has spent much of the past decade behind bars and has not seen her twin children, who live in Paris, since 2015.

Iranian authorities have arrested more than 50,000 people as part of their crackdown on protests, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).


Iran's Supreme Leader Urges Iranians to Show 'Resolve' against Foreign Pressure

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).
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Iran's Supreme Leader Urges Iranians to Show 'Resolve' against Foreign Pressure

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Monday called on his compatriots to show "resolve" ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution this week.

Since the revolution, "foreign powers have always sought to restore the previous situation", Ali Khamenei said, referring to the period when Iran was under the rule of shah Reza Pahlavi and dependent on the United States, AFP reported.

"National power is less about missiles and aircraft and more about the will and steadfastness of the people," the leader said, adding: "Show it again and frustrate the enemy."


UK PM's Communications Director Quits

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS
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UK PM's Communications Director Quits

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's director of communications Tim Allan resigned on Monday, a day after Starmer's top aide Morgan McSweeney quit over his role in backing Peter Mandelson over his known links to Jeffrey Epstein.

The loss of two senior aides ⁠in quick succession comes as Starmer tries to draw a line under the crisis in his government resulting from his appointment of Mandelson as ambassador to the ⁠US.

"I have decided to stand down to allow a new No10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success," Allan said in a statement on Monday.

Allan served as an adviser to Tony Blair from ⁠1992 to 1998 and went on to found and lead one of the country’s foremost public affairs consultancies in 2001. In September 2025, he was appointed executive director of communications at Downing Street.